Patient-relaxing dental chair

Abstract

A dental chair with a massage unit built into a cushioned patient-contacting portion, for example the backrest, without altering the ergonomic surface contours or hygienic surface of the chair.

1 . A dental chair having a patient-contacting cushion portion with a hygienic surface cover following a predetermined patient-contacting contour, the improvement comprising a massage unit located in the patient-contacting cushion portion under the surface cover, the massage unit capable of transmitting a massage to a dental patient reclining against the patient-contacting cushion portion.  
     
     
         2 . The dental chair of  claim 1 , wherein the massage unit is placed in the cushion portion in a manner following the patient-contacting contour.  
     
     
         3 . The dental chair of  claim 1 , wherein the massage unit is located in a backrest portion of the dental chair.  
     
     
         4 . The dental chair of  claim 3 , wherein the backrest is separate from other patient- contacting cushion portions of the chair.  
     
     
         5 . The dental chair of  claim 1 , wherein the massage unit is controlled by a patient-operable control unit.  
     
     
         6 . The dental chair of  claim 1 , wherein the massage unit is complemented by a heat unit in the patient-contacting portion.  
     
     
         7 . The dental chair of  claim 1 , wherein the massage unit is located in the patient-contacting portion under the surface cover in a manner leaving the predetermined patient-contacting contour unchanged.  
     
     
         8 . The dental chair of  claim 1 , wherein the patient-contacting portion comprises a cushioned core, and the massage unit is recessed into the cushioned core.  
     
     
         9 . The dental chair of  claim 7 , wherein an additional thin cushioning layer is placed over the recessed massage unit between the surface cover and the cushioned core.  
     
     
         10 . The dental chair of  claim 9 , wherein the additional thin cushioning layer is a uniform layer over the cushioned core following the predetermined patient-contacting contour.